The World Is Calling For Free

(PRWEB) August 17, 2006 -- It has been said that getting the word out about any business is the “life-blood” of not only staying in business, but growing a business. Whether it is through print media (newspaper, magazines), direct mail, radio, TV, etc., businesses have been always looking for an edge to not only keep up with their competition, but to try to get an upper hand. Business owners are starting to realize that there has been a media sleeping giant that is starting to awaken. The Internet has become the new darling of business exposure. Why? Businesses now have the capability to not only reach their local market, but can reach out to the world for literally pennies on the dollar.
Many media outlets mentioned above have seen this and now have their own Internet divisions to better serve their clients. How big is this sleeping giant? In 2004, online retail sales in the U.S. totaled approximately $65 billion and are expected to reach $117 billion by 2008 (Jupiter Research). Neilson/NetRatings indicates that in May 2004 there were approximately 142 million online users in the U.S. Savvy business owners are now looking for a new way to take advantage of this tremendous, literally untapped market. For many years businesses have enticed their clients and potential new clients with money saving coupons. Each day, more and more people are taking advantage of these savings simply because the economy (higher fuel costs, taxes, etc.) dictates this. Coupon savings totaled approximately $3 billion in 2003 (Promotion Marketing Association/NYC Trade Group).

An article found at clikz.com indicates that more and more people are using internet coupons. Targeted coupons keep a business’s customer list fresh and keeps them coming back. Through this method, customers who prefer to receive coupons jumps from approximately 32% to 55%. These same 55% say they will likely increase their online coupon usage.

J. Paul Getty once said if you can find a method of giving away something for free and make money, you will become wealthy. A company in California adopted this “free marketing strategy” by allowing businesses to give away free long distance to their customer base, as well as targeting potential customers. This “free phone dialer” is downloaded to a customer’s computer desktop and allows them to make unlimited phone calls, using VOIP technology, to any phone in the U.S. and Canada.

A long distance call can be made to any computer in the world that has also downloaded this free dialer. Through this dialer, consumers can download free coupons from businesses on a rotating basis. Businesses capture these consumers on an “opt-in permission basis” which allows them for the first time to control their marketing campaign. Already, such names as McDonald’s, OfficeMax, Toyota Motor Corp., Harley Davidson, and many others are now using this technique with great success.. Yes, the world is calling for free. And businesses, no matter how large or how small, are taking advantage of this tremendous marketing strategy.